Everything and Nothing
December 24th, 2007
Over the last few years I have grown more and more interested in Buddhism. I find it helps me to focus on what’s important and keeps me centered. While I am nowhere near the ultimate destination of enlightenment, I have begun the journey, and each day proves another opportunity for learning and growth.
Recently I finally began to try meditating. I had been reluctant to give it a shot, figuring there would be no way that I’d be able to quiet my mind. Fortunately I have found that with mindful awareness, I have made strides in meditating, and now actually get a few moments of clarity. Sometimes I sit on the floor of my office and devote a half hour to meditation. Other times I try to grab a quickie - maybe five or ten minutes while I sit waiting for my wife (which I do a lot).
The objective of meditation is to just be. Sit and clear the mind. Recognize the thoughts as they arise and let them go. But it takes a little while to get there. I usually sit and repeatedly go through a mantra or two before I’m able to get there. My current mantra is from Buddhist meditation master, Kalu Rinpoche:
We live in illusion
And the appearance of things.
There is a reality.
We are that reality.
When you understand this,
You see that you are nothing.
And being nothing,
You are everything.
That is all.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:13 am
Merry Christmas Greg.
My wife and I are Buddhist. We belong to an organization called “Soka Gakkai International” or SGI. (Very popular in Japan)
The founder, “Tsunesaburo Makiguchi” was imprisoned by the Japanese government during WWII for basically being a peace activist.
The current SGI leader, “Daisaku Ikeda” is also a peace activist and the Japanese members of the organization are very involved in Japanese politics to the point of criticism. (Too influential)
We practice what is called “Nichiren Buddhism” and focus on the teachings of the “Lotus Sutra”.
We chant the phrase “Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo” over and over. A very loose translation would be… Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra.
If you want to learn more, Wikipedia has some good articles about the phrases in quotes.
But anyway…
Since I was formerly an atheist… The part that I like most is you don’t need to believe in it to receive the maximum benefit or enlightenment.
Unlike other religions where you first need to be a true-believer to to get into heaven or whatever, SGI teaches that the effects just happen because it’s the Mystic Law, the same way that you don’t need to believe in the laws of physics for them to work, they just do.
So back to the chanting… We chant the phrase Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo over and over (An hour a day or more) while thinking about what we want out of life.
The effect is that we either get what we want or we might motivate ourselves to work harder so we eventually get it or maybe we’ll come to the realization that we don’t need it or we might actually be better off without it or some other form of accomplishment or enlightenment.
An example would be a heroin addict chanting for more and better quality heroin & for more money to buy more drugs. The theory is… if the addict chants the phrase long enough while wishing for more Heroin, he would eventually realize that he is chanting for the wrong thing and begin to refocus his chanting and his life on becoming free of addition, etc, etc.
However… I’m not a formal member of the organization. I’m just not into joining things like that.
My only complaint (as with every religious organization that I’m aware of) is they place too much emphases on recruiting new members. No matter where I go, the holiest of holies always seems to be getting more people to join up.
For me it’s a personal thing versus a group activity.
On the other hand… Almost every member I know became interested… Not because they were “Recruited” but because they knew someone who who they admired who was a member.
They usually ask the person something like… “How are you able to keep your cool when I’m going crazy?” or whatever… and then the person credits the chanting.
Also… SGI, as an organization doesn’t seem to get along with the Zen Buddhists very well. That nonsense reminds me of the Catholic versus Protestant thing. (Our beliefs are more by-the-book than yours) Who cares? - Oh well, nothings perfect.
BTW - I’m not a true-believer. I personally think about 25% of it (structure, organization & dogma) is BS but the chanting and other core beliefs seem to work well for me. Spending some time everyday with my wife and chanting about the things that we would like to improve in ourselves or situations that we would like to change in our lives sincerely helps.
December 29th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
You might be able to think about what you want out of life, but all I’d be able to see is Booger walking next to the crocodile pit!
February 27th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Good for you for getting going on the journey. It’s something I’ve been working on as well. One of the heaviest points is the erosion/elimination of desire: a nice foundational point in establishing the right kind of perspective. I find this particular element the most difficult to make compatible with the rest of my life, which is, well, just about entirely fueled by desire in some form or another. No need to be completely all-or-none about it from the start, though. It is a process, after all.
We’re trapped, blinded, and limited by need. While it has the illusion of being fixed and intangible, we have a lot more capacity to control it than we think. It just takes a lot of work, that most people (quite fittingly and ironically) don’t put the time into. Good on you for the meditation - that’s supposed to be a big part of it. Keep at it, and do update on the topic as you develop, please.
As an extra point, if you can find a teacher who knows what they’re talking about (usually not easy), I strongly recommend t’ai chi ch’uan. While it’s not identical to sitting meditation, many of the benefits overlap, with one of the advantages being the relaxed mindset without the tendency towards a wandering mind that comes from being immobile.